All across the UK homes are being fitted with smart meters that claim to make energy use more visible, but the question has been raised as to whether this will actually reduce energy consumption. With three quarters of the British public in favour of smart meters and the sharing of energy use data, the hopes are high and the government plans to have the smart technology installed in every home and business before the closing of the decade. But will homeowners actually pay attention to their metres and monitor more efficient appliances in their home or use as much as they always have to meet their needs? Lets take a look:

A biomass boiler is one of the eligible heating systems for the new Renewable Heat Incentive, an initiative recently released by the government where homeowners are paid back for installing renewable heating systems in their homes. Buying and installing a biomass boiler can be confusing and it is important that you choose the right one for the size of your home.

Despite the current relatively low price of oil and gas, many people are looking at a more sustainable way to heat their homes because they are worried about climate change and realise that fuel prices will not stay low forever.

Many will have now heard of an ‘air source heat pump’ and wondered whether this ‘new’ technology is suitable for their home.

Extensions to existing buildings are beginning to rise above the urban and industrial areas of Helsinki’s currently rather horizontal skyline. As The Finnish Broadcasting Company YLE reports, the number of extensions upward is still quite small – yet there is growing interest in the air.

The demand for housing in urban areas continues to grow globally. Today more than half of the world’s population is living in the cities, according to the UN’s The World’s Cities in 2016 report.

New players are bolstering the industry, and ensuring the growth of the sector

London 12-01-17 – The total LNG trade reached 244.8 metric tons (MT) in 2015, up 4.7 MT from the previous year. This marks the largest year for LNG trade in the industry’s history, even though Japanese import prices fell drastically between January and December 2015. Despite this, the start of new projects contributed to the buoyancy of the sector and the industry has remained vibrant, continuing to grow. Currently Asia accounts for more than half of global LNG imports, with Japan, South Korea and China leading the way and accounting for just over half of the global market share.

With less than two weeks until Christmas, our thoughts inevitably turn to decorating the tree and curling up by the fire. But for over three million UK households affected by fuel poverty, it could be a cold, cold Christmas ahead.And many millions more financially vulnerable people will struggle to keep the chestnuts roasting this Christmas.

Research from Baringa Partners, conducted earlier this year, exposed financial vulnerability as one of society’s greatest hidden problems. A staggering one in three adults in the UK consider themselves to be financially vulnerable; yet only between three and four percent are classified as such by energy and banking companies, respectively.

Dutch and Polish researchers use computer capacity NCBJ for simulations

PETTEN/ŚWIERK – Researchers of the National Centre for Nuclear Research (NCBJ) and researchers from the Nuclear Research and Consultancy Group (NRG) will start a collaboration to further improve the safety of nuclear reactors. Both institutes signed a memorandum of agreement for a three year collaboration including computations to be performed on 5000 cores of the Polish supercomputer – Świerk Computing Centre (CIŚ).

Smart meters are currently being rolled out into all UK homes, with the aim of each household having one by 2020. However, many of us still have questions about them and some are unclear as to whether they’re going to be as beneficial as we’re told.

A smart energy meter is the next generation of gas and electric meters and will provide a multitude of functions that should make energy bills far more clear and accurate. They are digitally connected, which means they can communicate with your energy supplier directly so no-one has to come to your home to carry out meter readings.

If you’re considering getting an AGA, or if you’re wondering just why people get so attached to theirs (it’s just a glorified cooker, right?), then this post is for you, as it explains why this all-singing, all-dancing piece of kitchen equipment will transform your life.

What can your AGA do for you that a regular oven and even your humble microwave can’t?

Although it’s the height of summer now, autumn and winter will soon be here and you’ll be thinking about the extra energy costs. To head these concerns off at the pass, here’s 15 tips – that you can adopt now – to reduce those bills.Read more »

New research conducted by the Energy Saving Trust suggests that £78million a year extra is being spent on gas and electric by pet owners in the UK as they worry about their furry friends being cold, stressed or lonely whilst they are out.

This latest study indicates that two out of five pet owners like to leave their heating on during the day in order to keep their pets warm, with a quarter leaving the radio on and a tenth leaving the TV on for company. It has been calculated that all of this additional energy used in the UK to keep pets warm and entertained could light 56,000 homes for an entire year.

At present, heat pumps are one of the lesser known renewable energy sources so you will probably have a lot of questions if you’re looking into this as an option for your home. Predominantly used in Switzerland, Sweden and Austria, these are a green energy that have been introduced as part of the bid to reduce carbon emissions by 2020.

Before purchasing a heat pump it is important to fully understand them so you can identify the advantages / disadvantages before proceeding with one. However, with a growing number of people installing these, there are some very positive reviews and it has been identified that they will reduce energy bills by approximately 50%.

Due to the high demand for green power, harvested renewable energy is projected to be at 100% by 2030. Based on a study commission by the federal government in Australia, clean energy from wind, solar and hydro is forecasted to produce the same amount of power as fossil fuels in less than 15 years time. However, investment may range from $219 billion to $252 billion.